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| Creator: | WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.) |
| Title: | WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Chamber of Commerce president Opie L. Shelton urging businesses to comply with the 1964 Civil Rights Act in Atlanta, Georgia, 1964 July |
| Date: | 1964 July |
| Description: | In this WSB newsfilm clip from July 1964, Atlanta Chamber of Commerce president Opie L. Shelton gives a statement encouraging local businesses to comply with the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The clip begins by showing a sign for the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. Shelton declares that while the Chamber of Commerce feels the federal government should not legislate public accommodations, the Chamber continues to urge its members "soliciting businesses from the general public to do so without regard to race, creed, or color." The clip breaks, and Shelton repeats that voluntary integration has been successful. The camera focuses on a picture of an Atlanta street scene on the wall behind Shelton; interspersed with this, Shelton repeats the statement about the Chamber's voluntary policy. The clip ends by showing a three-dimensional mural of people and a domed building. The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce encouraged members to voluntarily integrate their businesses both before and after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. While some restaurants integrated in June 1963, many had resegregated by the end of the year. Two Atlanta businesses fought the legality of the 1964 Civil Rights Act in cases eventually decided by the United States Supreme Court in favor of the law in December 1964. Following the ruling the Heart of Atlanta Motel desegregated, and segregationist and later Georgia governor Lester Maddox closed his restaurant rather than serve African Americans. Title supplied by cataloger. The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection. |
| Types: | Moving images | News | Unedited footage |
| Subjects: | Shelton, Opie L. (Opie Lee), 1915-1999 | African Americans--Civil rights--Georgia--Atlanta | Central business districts--Georgia--Atlanta | Business enterprises | Discrimination in public accommodations--Georgia--Atlanta | Federal-city relations--Georgia--Atlanta | Segregation--Georgia--Atlanta | Interviews--Georgia--Atlanta | Reporters and reporting--Georgia--Atlanta | Atlanta Chamber of Commerce | United States. Civil Rights Act of 1964 | Atlanta (Ga.) | Fulton County (Ga.) |
| Collection: | WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection |
| Institution: | Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection |
| Contributors: | Shelton, Opie L. (Opie Lee), 1915-1999 | Digital Library of Georgia | Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection | Civil Rights Digital Library Collection (Digital Library of Georgia) |
| Online Publisher: | Athens, Ga. : Digital Library of Georgia and Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries | 2007 |
| Original Material: | 1 clip (about 5 min.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm. Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection. |
| Rights and Usage: | WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Chamber of Commerce president Opie L. Shelton urging businesses to comply with the 1964 Civil Rights Act in Atlanta, Georgia, 1964 July, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 1186, 24:33/29:48, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia. |
| Related Materials: | Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library. |
| Persistent Link to Item: | http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/crdl/id:ugabma_wsbn_46925 |
